Summary of Iran Stories in Today's BroadcastsBehnam NateghiSunday, January 25, 2004
<b>Majles Approves Bill to Limit the Guardians Council's Power</b>
• On the 15th day of their sit-in protest against the Guardians Council's move to ban 83 Majles MPs along with 3,605 of 8,157 applicants for candidacy in the February 20 Majles elections, the Majles reformist majority passed three amendments to the election law, in yet another bid to limit the Guardians Council's power to vet elections' candidates. The new bill would require the Guardians to reinstate 680 rejected applicants whose qualifications had been approved in the past elections. However, the amendments need the approval of the Guardians Council, which in the past had rejected several Majles-approved government bills that sought to curb its powers. In their 12th communiqué, read at the Majles by Tehran reformist MP Mohsen Armin, the striking MPs said “religious democracy” was a ploy by the “totalitarian” conservative faction to mask a dictatorship. “Democracy accepts no adjectives,” he said. Isfahan MP protested against the summons issued for the striking Majles MPs by the Guardians Council, calling the issuing of the summons an insult to the people's representatives. In their speeches today at the open session of the Majles, both the reformists and the conservatives cited Islamic Republic founder Ayatollah Khomeini to defend or denounce the actions of the Guardians Council. Majles speaker Mehdi Karrubi asked the Guardians Council members to show their dedication to the principle of clerical rule by following the advice of the Supreme Leader who said last Wednesday that those approved to run in the previous elections should be considered fit to run again, unless proofs of their crimes were presented. (Bahman Bastani)
• A review of the past communiqués issued by the striking MPs indicates the statements have gradually taken a sharper, more controversial tone. (Ali Sajjadi)
• Islamic student activists have shown no interest in backing government reformists in their dispute with the conservatives over the mass disqualifications of reformist candidacy applicants, German daily <i>Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger</i> writes. (Parviz Farhang)
• The reason for the indifference of the student movement is the kind of treatment the students have received in the past, secretary of the association of Islamic student councils Abdollah Momeni said. (Mahdieh Javid)
• In a statement printed in Tehran newspapers, President Khatami and Majles speaker Mehdi Karrubi accused secretary of the Guardians Council Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati of lying about a meeting last week with the Guardians Council. Jannai said on Friday that the two had nothing to say at the meeting. A less than free election would not be suitable for a “democratic regime,” Khatami and Karrubi said in their statement today. (Jean Khakzad)
• The cabinet devoted its meeting today to the discussion of ways to counter the Guardians Council's mass rejection of election candidacy applicants. The reformists had threatened that they would take action if by Friday January 23 the Guardians Council had not overturned the bans, but no action has been taken so far. The reformists tried to broaden their sit-in protest at the Majles by inviting prominent political figures and the families of Iran-Iraq war veterans to join them, but they have received little popular support. Their plight reminds us of the character in <i>Alice in Wonderland</i> who asks for directions, but does not know where she is heading. (Alireza Taheri)
<b>Pakistan Questions Scientist over Nuclear Cooperation with Iran</b>
• The founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has been barred from leaving Islamabad after Pakistani investigators concluded that Khan and Mohammed Farooq, a high-ranking manager at the country's premier nuclear-weapons laboratory, provided unauthorized technical assistance to Iran's nuclear-weapons program in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Farooq has been in government custody since his arrest on November 22. (Alireza Taheri)
<b>Austria President and First Lady Arrives in Tehran</b>
• President Thomas Klestil of Austria arrived in Tehran early Saturday at the helm of a large diplomatic and trade delegation. He was received by President Khatami later in the day. Austria's first lady is scheduled to meet 2003 Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.
• The goal of the trip is to expand trade relations, Vienna daily <i>Der Standard</i> writes. (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)
<b>Defector Implicates Islamic Republic Authorites in September 11 Attacks</b>
• The September 11 attacks in New York and Washington was an al-Qaeda-Islamic Republic joint venture, according to Hamid-Reza Zakeri, 28, a defector introduced by the German authorities as former intelligence ministry agent. He is due to provide testimony in the trial of accused September 11 plotter Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi, a Moroccan student who lived in Hamburg and was friends with three of the four suicide pilots. The testimony, given originally to the German police, was greeted with pronounced skepticism by some German intelligence officials, who found it “a bit constructed.” (Shahram Mirian, Cologne)
<b>Saudi Arabia Wants the Islamic Republic to Hand over al Qaeda Detainees</b>
• Saudi Arabia said on Saturday it wanted Iran to hand over any Saudi al Qaeda militants rather than put them on trial, but added it did not know how many of its nationals were being held by Iranian authorities. Responding to foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi's announcement on Friday at Davos that it would put a dozen jailed suspects of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's network on trial, Saudi foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Tehran had not revealed if any were Saudis. “We have been having discussions with Iran and we have a security agreement with Iran and they had promised if there are any Saudis they would hand them over. We still hope that they would do that,” Prince Saud told Reuters in an interview. (Nazi Azima)
<b>Secular Opposition Holds Conference at Hannover University</b>
• In a conference titled “Republic, Freedom and Social Justice” a group of secular opponents of the Islamic Republic gathered at Hannover University in Germany on January 24 to discuss ways to achieve a secular democratic government in Iran. All political trends which favor a secular democracy were represented at the event, organizer <b>Jalal Shalgooni</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. The rejection of the Islamic Republic, with the goal of forming a government that respects individual rights and freedoms and secularism were the major points of the speeches given, he adds. (Parviz Mardani)
<b>Jailed Tabirizi Journalist Receives Family Visit</b>
• For the first time since his arrest last month, authorities permitted independent journalist Ensafali Hedayat's family to visit him in jail. He was charged with insulting the Supreme Leader and spying, after he returned from Berlin where he attended the conference of the coalition of secular, non-monarchist anti-regime groups Etehad-e Jomhurikhahan. He is being held in solitary confinement by the intelligence ministry, receives three meals a day and one hour of fresh air per day, and said he has not been mistreated, his daughter <b>Fatemeh Hedayat</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)
<b> “Democracy for Iran Committee” Hold Human Rights Meeting in London</b>
• A group of secular opposition activists met for a two-day conference at the University of London under the banner of “Democracy for Iran.” Organizer <b>Qasem Kashani</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b> that the group's goal is to achieve secular democracy in Iran. Some of the opposition groups inside and outside the country are under the illusion that the Islamic Republic system can be reformed from within, but in my speech I tried to show that this regime cannot be reformed by the Islamic reformists, or by others, <b>Kambiz Rousta</b>, who spoke at the conference, tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Shahran Tabari, London)
<b>Islamic Republic Police Kill 4 and Wound 300 in Attack on Copper Mines Workers Near Kerman</b>
• On the 9th day of the sit-in protest by a group of 500 laid off copper factory workers and their families in the village of Khatunabad in Shahrebabak, near Kerman, helicopters carrying special police units opened fire and killed at least four people and wounded 300, Kerman-based independent journalist <b>Koroush Aryan</b>, who was present at the Khatunabad protest, tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. The wounded are hospitalized in Sarcheshmeh and Sharebabak hospitals, he adds. Provincial security chief Mr. Farshad said he had no information about the protest. Shahrebabak residents, who wanted to join the protesters, were turned away by the police, who have blocked access to Khatunabad, he adds. The laid-off workers demand to be rehired, he says. (Nima Tamadon)
<b>220,000 Receive Earthquake Relief in Bam</b>
• More than 220,000 have been registered to receive earthquake relief, according to the head of the Iranian society of Red Crescent, even though the total population of earthquake-stricken cities of Bam and Baravat did not exceed 110,000, and half of them were killed or wounded in the earthquake. The aid recipients are residents of nearby towns and villages, who, although not affected by the earthquake, suffer from extreme poverty due to several years of drought, Kermani journalist <b>Mohammad-Sadeq Taheri</b>, who visited Bam today, tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. (Jamshid Zand)
• Bam's water supply system have been extremely damaged by the earthquake, and facilities for washing and taking showers are very limited, international earthquake expert of California-based John Martin company <b>Farzad Naim</b>, who has just returned from a visit to Bam, tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. Nearly half of the city's palm grooves have been destroyed, and the rest are in danger too, since half of the underground water canals have been destroyed, and the workers who tended to the canals have been killed or wounded by the earthquake, he adds. (Fatemeh Aman)
<b>Judiciary Refers Kazemi's Murder Case to Criminal Court</b>
• The judiciary sent the case of Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was to a branch of the criminal court at the conclusion of an investigation ordered by the judiciary chief. The lawyers were not informed of any trial date, Kazemi's mother's lawyer <b>Mohammad-Ali Dadkhah</b> tells <b>Radio Farda</b>. When we asked to see the file, we were told that it was sent to the judiciary spokesman, he adds, noting that it is highly unusual for the file of a murder case for which no trial has been held be sent to a spokesperson. (Amir-Mosaddegh Katouzian)
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بهمن باستاني (راديو فردا): امروز طرح سه فوريتي در مجلس تصويب شد که ناظر است بر اصلاحاتي بر قانون انتخابات. اين طرح برخي از اصلاحات مورد نظر محمد خاتمي، رئيس جمهوري را به صور غيرمستقيم در برمي گيرد که سال گذشته در مجلس تصويب و بعد در شوراي نگهبان رد شد. هم زمان اين طرح تاکيدي است بر توصيه آيت الله خامنه اي، رهبر جمهوري اسلامي که چهارشنبه دو هفته پيش خواستار آن شد که شوراي نگهبان صلاحيت نمايندگان مجلس را که داوطلب نمايندگي دور هفتم مجلس هم هستند، تاييد کند و گفت: اصل در مورد تاييد صلاحيت شده هاي قبل، بر صلاحيت نيست. يعني دنبال ايراد از اينها نگرديد. اينها صالحند مگر آن که خلاف آن با تکيه بر اسناد و مدارک ثابت شود.
اما همين طرح سه فوريتي مجلس که نمايندگان اصلاح طلب گفته اند براي نشان دادن حسن نيت خود و رفع بحران موجود تصويب کرده اند، بايد براي قانوني شدن به شوراي نگهبان برود. يعني همان نهادي که مخاطب اين طرح است و در بحران کنوني روياروي مجلس. فاطمه راکعي از نمايندگان اصلاح طلب مجلس ابراز اميدواري کرده است که اين طرح که پس از رد شدن قطعي در شوراي نگهبان به تشخيص مصلحت خواهد رفت فورا در مجمع تشخيص تاييد شود.
اما نمايندگان اصلاح طلب مجلس و به ويژه متحصنين، پا را از ميدان رد صلاحيتها فراتر گذاشته اند و با ادامه اين تحصن که تا کنون 15 روز از آن گذشته، برخي از مسائل و مواردي را که پيش طرح امکان طرح جدي آن را نداشتند مطرح مي کنند. فاطمه راکعي در ادامه سخني که از او نقل شد، امروز گفت: در آينده طرح حذف نظارت استصوابي در مجلس مطرح مي شود.
در ميان سخنرانان جلسه علني امروز مجلس هم محسن آرمين از چهره هاي شاخص اصلاح طلبان حکومت و نايب رئيس کميسيون امنيت ملي مجلس بود که چسباندن پسوند ديني به واژه مردمسالاري را ترفند و فريبکاري مستبدان و اقتدارگرايان جمهوري اسلامي توصيف کرد. او که بيانيه شماره 12 متحصنين در مجلس را قرائت مي کرد، در بخشي از اين بيانيه چنين خواند:
محسن آرمين (نايب رئيس كميسيون امنيت ملي و سياست خارجي، صحن مجلس): اکنون مي توان بهتر فهميد چرا در چند سال گذشته اقتدارگرايان فريبکارانه بر مردمسالاري ديني و تفاوت ماهوي با مردمسالاري متعارف تاکيد مي کنند. اينان واژه ديني را نه صفت مردمسالاري، بلکه غير آن مي دانند که به اين ترتيب استبداد و آمريت را در لباس مردمسالاري در بازار مکاره سياست مي فروشند و ما مي گوييم شعور مردم را به بازي نگيريد و بي پرده و عريان متاع استبداد خود را عرضه کنيد. مردم سالاري هيچ صفتي نمي پذيرد. و يک مفهوم بيشتر ندارد. ديني آن را رها کنيد و مطمئن باشيد مردمسالاري در جامعه اي که دين و معنويت تار و پود انديشه و تربيت و فرهنگ آن را تشکيل مي دهد، بدون شک رنگ و صفت ديني به خود مي گيرد.
ب. ب.: سخنراني محسن آرمين از نمايندگان شاخص اصلاح طلب حکومت که در قالب بيانيه شماره 12 نمايندگان متحصن ايراد شد، نمونه تشديد رويارويي دوجناح اصلي جمهوري اسلامي بود و انگيزه برخورد با رد گسترده صلاحيتها.
محسن آرمين (صحن مجلس): آنان که در صدد ايجاد مجلس مطيع و گوش به فرمان از نوع مجالس مشورتي انتخابي هستند، اکنون به روشني مي توان قضاوت کرد که چه کساني در صدد براندازي قانوني و کودتاي پارلماني عليه نظام هستند. آنان که با دو درجه اي کردن انتخابات راي ملت را نه براي تعيين نمايندگان واقعي و مدافع حقوق آزاديهاي خويش، که براي تاييد حسن انتخاب شوراي نگهبان مي خواهند و عملا اقتدارگرايي را جانشين مردمسالاري مي کنند يا آنان که با الهام از انديشه امام انقلاب، ميزان را راي ملت مي دانند و از حاصل مبارزات آزاديخواهانه و ضد استبدادي ملت دفاع مي کنند؟
ب. ب: محسن آرمين گفت تنها با کودتاي نظامي اقتدارگرايان مي توانند اصلاح طلبان و اصلاحات را کنار بزنند که چنين چيزي هم به گفته مصطفوي نماينده اصلاح طلب مجلس درسخنراني امروز او در مجلس ناممکن است. بدين گونه همانطور که از سخنان محسن آرمين نماينده مجلس شنيديم، هم اصلاح طلبان حکومت به سخنان آيت الله خميني استناد مي کنند و هم محافظه کاران حکومت. همين امروز نماينده محافظه کار ماه نشان در مجلس با استناد به سخنان آيت الله خميني در مورد جايگاه شوراي نگهبان عليه نمايندگان متحصن سخن گفت و آنان را بر اساس سخنان آيت الله خميني به اقدام غيرقانوني متهم کرد. بر همين زمينه جداسري فزاينده دو جناح اصلي حکومت که هر دو به يک منشاء تاکيد مي کنند است که باز امروز رجبعلي مزروعي از ديگر چهره هاي شناخته شده اصلاح طلب و نماينده اصفهان در مجلس گفت ما هرگز تصور نمي کرديم سرنوشت جمهوري اسلامي به اين جا برسد.
رجبعلي مزروعي (نماينده اصفهان، صحن مجلس): وقتي نمايندگان يک ملتي اين طور باهاشان اين طور برخورد شود، تکليف مردم چه خواهد بود؟ آيا اگر من نماينده در مقابل نطق پيش از دستورم پاسخگوي مراجعي باشم، در دوره هاي بعد نمايندگان جرئت خواهند کرد که صحبت کنند؟ ما فکر نمي کرديم که روزي نظام اسلامي ما، جمهوري اسلامي به اين نقطه برسد.
ب. ب.: رجبعلي مزروعي نماينده اصلاح طلب اصفهان در مجلس، در بخش ديگري از سخنان امروزش گفت شوراي نگهبان نمايندگان رد صلاحيت شده را که قانونا به رد صلاحيت خود اعتراض کرده اند، احضار و بازجويي مي کند.
رجبعلي مزروعي (صحن مجلس): احضاري که دارد از طرف شوراي نگهبان مي شود و دوستان نماينده را به آنجا احضار مي کنند، و...
حجت الاسلام مهدي كروبي (رئيس مجلس): دعوت است.
رجبعلي مزروعي: اجازه بدهيد حاج آقا! کاري که دارد صورت مي گيرد دعوت نيست. احضار است، بازجويي است. شما از دوستاني که رفتند آنجا و باهاشان مصاحبه شده، متن گفت و گوها را بخواهيد. دوستان نماينده بايد بروند راجع به تک تک جملاتي که در نطقهاي پيش از دستورشان در اينجا داشتند، به شوراي نگهبان پاسخگو باشند. اين مغاير با اصل 86 قانون اساسي است. اين تحقير است، حاج آقا! انقلاب اسلامي، انقلاب عليه تحقير بود.
ب. ب.: با وجود اين سخنان تند و تيز رجبعلي مزروعي نماينده اصلاح طلب اصفهان در مجلس و ديگر نمايندگان اصلاح طلب مجلس، مهدي کروبي رئيس مجلس همواره کوشيده است از طريق رايزني و مذاکرات پشت پرده از تنشها بکاهد، اين بار توپ را در زمين شوراي نگهبان انداخت واز شوراي نگهبان که بسياري را به استناد ملتزم نبودن به اصل ولايت فقيه رد صلاحيت کرده، خواست که به توصيه رهبر جمهوري اسلامي مبني بر تاييد صلاحيت نمايندگان کنوني مجلس، وفاداري خود را به اصل ولايت فقيه اثبات کند.
حجت الاسلام مهدي کروبي (صحن مجلس): من از شوراي محترم نگهبان مي خواهم که توجه کند و وفاداريش را به ولايت فقيه و ولي فقيه کاملا به مردم ثابت کند. آنها منسوبين رهبري هستند، همان طور که رهبر تاييدشان کرد توجه کنند و اين مشکل را حل کنند. حداقل 95% مشکل حل مي شود.
ب. ب.: مهدي کروبي رئيس مجلس شوراي اسلامي در عين حال در سخنانش در جلسه علني مجلس همچون گذشته ابراز اميدواري کرد که با ادامه رايزني ها با شوراي نگهبان، مشکل اصلي بحران کنوني، مساله گستردگي رد صلاحيتها حل شود. در طرح سه فوريتي مجلس براي اصلاح قانون انتخابات كه امروز تصويب شد، نمايندگان اصلاح طلب مجلس خواستار تصويب صلاحيت كساني شدندكه قبلا در شوراي نگهبان صلاحيت آنها تصويب شده بود. محسن آرمين، نايب رئيس کميسيون امنيت ملي مجلس، چسباندن پسوند ديني به واژه مردمسالاري را ترفند و فريبکاري مستبدان و اقتدارگرايان جمهوري اسلامي توصيف کرد. رجبعلي مزروعي نماينده اصفهان گفت: احضار نمايندگان مجلس از سوي شوراي نگهبان با اصل 86 قانون اساسي مغاير است و آن را تحقيري براي نمايندگان اصلاح طلب دانست. مهدي کروبي، رئيس مجلس نيز از شوراي نگهبان خواست باعمل کردن به توصيه رهبر جمهوري اسلامي مبني بر تاييد صلاحيت نمايندگان کنوني مجلس، وفاداري خود را به اصل ولايت فقيه اثبات کند.
